The use of car seats for the safe restraint of infants and children in vehicles is well known. For the safety and comfort of an infant or child, and also to comply with applicable laws requiring the use of car seats for children of specified ages, car seats now are commonly removed from the family vehicle and taken along on travels. For example, a child's car seat may be used for the child in a rental car on the family vacation. In addition, car seats commonly may be used in other modes of transportation, such as airplanes, busses, boats, or trains, to provide a safer and more comfortable seat for young children.
Such use of car seats away from the family vehicle thus requires the transport of the car seats through airport terminals, bus stations, train stations, boat terminals, and the like. The typical infant or child car seat is quite bulky, of an awkward shape, and may weigh between ten and twenty pounds. Thus the physical size, structure, and weight of the car seat make it difficult to carry and for most persons, require the use of both hands. This is particularly necessary if the car seat is carried for a substantial distance.
Various devices have been developed to assist with the transport of car seats, including a wide variety of bags, totes, and cases. Typically these travel bags comprise a zippered sack, with a handle and/or shoulder strap. The car seat may be placed in the sack and then carried from the family vehicle to baggage check, or onto the airplane, bus, etc.
Alternatively, some models of car seats are provided with wheels and a handle, essentially converting the car seat into a stroller so that it can be wheeled through an airport or other area. In addition, stroller-type attachments are made for car seats, again converting the car seat to a stroller-like apparatus that can be wheeled to its destination.
Typically, a child young enough to require the use of a car seat is also too young to walk any considerable distance through an airport terminal, train station, etc. This generally requires that the child also be carried, typically in a stroller, a backpack or front carrier, or simply in the guardian's arms. In addition, travel with young children generally entails transporting various other equipment, such as diaper bags. As a result, persons transporting young children while traveling must potentially negotiate a number of large, awkward items, in addition to the child.
The devices described above, although designed to transport car seats, nonetheless have a number of disadvantages and limitations. For example, even when encased in the travel bag type of carrier, a car seat may be quite cumbersome to carry, often banging against the leg of the person carrying it. Furthermore, it is not possible to carry a child strapped in the car seat when the car seat is encased in this type of travel bag, so the child typically must be carried in addition to the car seat, or placed in a stroller or other carrying device. This is particularly challenging for a single adult traveling with a child.
Car seats that are capable of being converted to stroller-like apparatuses do permit the carrying of the child in the car seat, but require the transporting person to use his or her hands to wheel the car seat/stroller. In the case of stroller-type attachments, these must be detached and stored once the car seat is placed in the airplane, rental car or other seat.
The present invention comprises several systems of harnesses and straps that may be attached to a car seat, so that the car seat may then be carried on a person's back, chest, or side. The harness systems of the present invention need not be removed when the car seat is placed in its destination seat in a vehicle, airplane, train, etc. Instead, the present invention permits the car seat to be securely fastened into a vehicle or other seat, using a conventional safety or seat belt restraint, while the harness systems remain attached to the car seat.
In addition to features designed for convenience, the present invention optimizes load-carrying efficiency and comfort for the user. The harness systems of the present invention are attached to a fabric carrier body that is provided with an internal semi-rigid back pad. The back pad, or stiffening member, may also be provided with shaped, semi-rigid aluminum stays. This semi-rigid body frame provides a contoured platform that supports the load of the car seat, or car seat plus child, and effectively distributes the load over a large area of the user's back. The carrier body may also be provided with a mesh aerospacer fabric for comfort. The design of the present invention thus avoids single points of excessive pressure on the user's back.
The semi-rigid body frame also provides a means of attachment for the harnesses such that the harnesses and points of attachment remain stationary as the user carries the car seat, or car seat plus child. In addition, the carrier body provides attachment points for a chest strap, multiple adjustment straps for optimizing the fit of the carrier to the user, and an adjustable hip belt. Attachment of the harness systems and adjustable straps to the semi-rigid carrier body permits the user to shift the load and position of the load in order to optimize stability and comfort.
The present invention thus overcomes limitations of the known devices in that it permits the user to carry the car seat without the use of his or her hands. The person's hands are thus free to carry other baggage or equipment, or the child, if desired. In addition, the transporting person may also carry the infant or child securely strapped into the car seat. Thus a further benefit of the present invention is that its use obviates the need for an additional stroller, backpack or front carrier to carry the child, reducing the amount of paraphernalia otherwise required to travel with a young child. Because the harness systems of the present invention need not be removed for the car seat to be secured in a vehicle or other seat, there is no additional equipment to detach, fold, or stow away.
Further, Applicant has designed the present invention to be useable with any commercially available car seat, by virtue of having certain of the harness systems available in a multiplicity of sizes and configurations. For example, the load lifter adjustment straps may be provided with attachment mechanism of varying thickness, in order to fit in car seat slots of different sizes. The user may “mix and match” components of the apparatus, to choose the combination of harness systems that best fits a particular model of car seat.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention are set forth, in part, in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from the description and/or from the practice of the invention.